MVP: WLl

Team DPs: 114

DUB are rivals to 4 teams.

Navid Djoku Jeion Dones Cmari Aooper

SEASON 44 UPDATE:

Season 43 Recap:

Aim 1 - finish higher in the league (min 3rd) - nope bottled down to 4th after the league was gone.

Aim 2 - Challenge for a cup (min Semi Final - ideally Dowson Cup) - yes, got to a final but got beat

Another non-season for us as my distinct averageness at OLMEC games comes back to haunt me, had a brief dalliance with success but thats long gone now. With our squad we will be there or thereabouts again but only time will tell how much I hold the team back.

Season 44 Objectives:

Aim 1 - finish higher in the league (min 3rd)

Aim 2 - Challenge for a cup (min Final - ideally Dowson Cup)

Copy and paste job again but both achievable, as I write we are top 5 in both top-11 and top-17 so should be challenging. Our average age doesnt compare well with the other teams at the top of the t-11 and t-17 standings but we do have 6/22, 5/20 and another 5/20 still kicking about the team which whilst adding to at least the t-17 also adds a chunk to the average age. The draftees this season are decent, will certainly replace the veterans well in the squad over the coming seasons.

Operation Stitchell / Wills into the hall of fame was 50/50 at the start of season 43 and I'm pulling the plug on the Stitchell effort, weve nailed the 2 top keepers so it will be a rotation between the 2. Some early season showings at sweeper wont boost the numbers enough for Stitchell. Wills is bouncing along lovely, 70 matches in 2 seasons is on course to take the record, didnt miss a game last season, off the top of my head will have been 38 games played. If we can match that this season then it will look inevitable. In terms of goals its not so positive, next few seasons should be constant 30 SL so will hopefully start banging in the goals more regular.

DAWGPOUND

SEASON 43 Update:

RECAP:

Aim 1 - finish higher in the league (min 4th) - done, got to 3rd but led the league most of the year then OPT flew past us

Aim 2 - Challenge for a cup (min Semi Final - ideally Dowson Cup) - crap, 2nd season in a row, really need to work on it this season

Season 42 promised so much but delivered absolutely nothing we led the league for the majority of the season but faded away at the end as OPT went past us at a rate of knots. Cups were crap, so bad I cant really remember much beyond lying down to GD in the Dowson Cup as we failed at concentrating on winning the league.

Season 43 Objectives:

Aim 1 - finish higher in the league (min 3rd)

Aim 2 - Challenge for a cup (min Semi Final - ideally Dowson Cup)

Basically just copying and pasting aim 2 each year now in the hope we manage to do something in the cups. Will be tough this season with the SFLSL draw, group of death with GD and ORA, very little upside beyond they have to play us and we arent SXS the very unlucky 4th team in the group. Squad has more depth now and we compare better to the top teams in top-17 rankings but still a bit behind.

Operation Stitchell / Wills into the hall of fame is 50/50, Stitchell barely got a look in beyond his training last season and will continue to share gametime with Grilli. Wills on the other hand is on course for the appearance hall of fame but has a lot of work to do infront of goal, things should improve in the coming seasons as the SL levels rise.

Speaking of hall of fame we had to retire Chick Nubb this season. An auction signing in my first season he was a massive player for me, in his 4 and a half seasons managed 142 games and 38 goals. Managed the 1 hat trick, 1 red card and 5 man of the match awards.

Draft was decent enough again this season 2 high rollers and another failed WG pick. Rather than running the redrafting risk weve gone for a position swap as its a sure thing. Dant Grelpit and Wenzel Dard will be big players for us for seasons to come.

Dawgpound

SEASON 42 Update:

RECAP:

Aim 1 - Finish higher in the league (minimum 6th place) - by the skin of my teeth a 5th place finish

Aim 2 - Challenge for a cup (min Semi Final - ideally Dowson Cup) - flacid, didnt get near a semi

Season 41 was a non event for DUB, started with a terrible draft and the match 1 defeat vs FCB set the tone for the season. Result wise the cup started strongly but faded away quickly. Honnie Rarrison pick up in the auctions was the highlight transfer / trade wise, they will be a big player at the back for seasons to come.

Season 42 objectives:

Aim 1 - finish higher in the league (min 4th)

Aim 2 - Challenge for a cup (min Semi Final - ideally Dowson Cup)

Season 42 has gotten off to a much better start than 41 did. All 3 draftees scout favourably and will be big players going forward, only slight issue is that they are all age 0 and would have preferred at least one of them to be age 1. We started the season 2nd in terms of top-11 but slightly weaker in terms of top-17, after match 3 we were sitting 5th in that. We are still strong in that but depth is obviously our weakness, the draft will help with that but i'm still keen to get another youngster in an auction.

Due to the scouting of the age 0s this season a long term aim is to get the Mump Stichell and Wedrick Jills into the DUB hall of fame, so far so good with 3 and 4  matches respectively. Long way to go on that one and will require a successful team in order to break some appearance records. Mump's attempts will be hampered by his competition as long with Fernando Grilli we will have one of the strongest GK setups over the next few seasons. 

Dawgpound

SEASON 41:

RECAP:

Aim 1 - Challenge for a Cup (min Semi Final) - WON SFLSL Cup

Aim 2 - Stay in the Top Division - Managed mid table obscurity (7th)

Season 41 Objectives:

Aim 1 - Finish higher in the league (minimum 6th place)

Aim 2 - Challenge for a cup (min Semi Final - ideally Dowson Cup)

Season 40 was a massive success, cememted our position in the top division and went further than challenging for a trophy by winning the SFLSL cup. My historic OLMEC averageness is currently on holidays as thats 2 seasons in a row with a trophy. Everything went just about as hoped last season, we had some poor results against the big guns. Consistently fell short vs ORA, snuck a win vs a depleted GD towards the end of the season and the managed to beat FCB against the run of play in the cup final.

Auctions werent as big a hit this season, picked up a middle aged rotational DF which helped a bit but will only ever be a rotation. This seasons draft has been absolutely atrocious for us, nothing worth writing home about which is going to cause us issues in the near future. We will look to remedy that during the season but much like a real life January transfer window, dealing during the season will be much harder than picking up some high prospect draft picks.

Dawgpound

SEASON 40:

Aim 1 - Challenge for a Cup (min Semi Final)

Aim 2 - Stay in the Top Division

If season 38 was all a failure then season 39 must go down as a great success. Things were looking ropey at the half way point, pretty sure if we werent double figures behind the leader it wasnt far off. We got horsed by The Stallions in the 14th last game of the season and I was tempted to log out of SFLSL and then ignore any email pleas from the commish i.e the OLMEC equivalent of a football manager exit game and dont save. Kept going though initially telling myself it will be to end of season to not ruin the game for anyone but we ended up winning the last 13 matches on the bounce conceding just 2 goals in the process and winning the Div 2 title by 12 points. A definite high point in my OLMEC career which now means I must continue. Pretty sure my total mediocrity will come to the fore again this season for inevitable mid table nothingness.

Speaking of mediocrity our cup adventures werent even that good. Out as early as we possibly could be, definitely a point of improvement required for the new season.

Auctions were once again kind to us and a couple of cheap age 1 recruits have scouted highly so are getting the fully training / coaching treatment. Aooper and Teller will be massive for us for a few seasons to come. Draft hasnt been too bad for us this season. Worst scouting result is still in the high 20s so will go with them for the next few seasons.

This season will be about making sure we can gather enough resources to coach up the players and then gathering enough cash to go again next season. We likely wont have a windfall from a sold discarded draft pick this season so will need to be smart. On the pitch / dice roll the aim of the game is to stay in the top level and do some damage in the cups, ideally not to ourselves.

dawgpound

SEASON 39:

Last season was a bit of a failure, on course to challenge for the title then we absolutely bottled it on the run in, in the end folding in the play off game to stay in Division 2. I mean the squad isnt near as good as the teams at the top of Division 1. Would be an absolute massacre if we have to play any of that lot at the moment never mind every week. Squad is in a better place than it was this time last season so hopeful we can sustain a title challenge for the whole season and get promotion.

3 new draft players were positive all in all, number 1 pick jitonio is a massive disappointment but the 2 blind picks more than made up for it as they both scout in the 30s. Mackson and Weller going to be massive players for us over the next few seasons, if im being picky then Weller would be an age 0 but alas we will work with him for 1 year less. Issue this season is going to be ensuring we have enough resources and also generate enough cash for next seasons pre season purchase.

The 2 late season auction picks have added to the depth of the team, Chick Nubb and Wenzel Dard both scout highly and we should really see the benefit of that this season. Peter Withe takes the captains armband, not our highest rated captain option but made the most sense in my head picking Withe as hopefully we can get some early season bonuses for him to make him more useful than sitting at 19. Mid season aging wont work out well for him so the more captains bonuses the better.

This season is all about promotion and improving the top-11 / top-17 for the start of next season to hopefully compete with the big boys!
 

SEASON 38:

For player naming I'm playing off my new found fascination for American Football, going with names of some Cleveland Browns stars (or should that be Bleveland Crowns). They have big squads and lots of turnover each year so should provide plenty of naming possibilities from American Football.

Aim for this season is promotion and hopefully the Division 2 title in the processs. Hopefully my distinct Olmec averageness doesn't get in the way of this.

Dawgpound.

Season 44:

Another season of nothingness. Got to a cup final but got beat which was annoying. Still near the top of the stat tables but importantly a bit below the very top teams not sure if we will ever catch up to them. Draftees not the worst in the end this season, certainly at worst some good rotation pieces which will help going forward.

Once again not a great deal changed since the last update. Our family of 4 (& the dog) is set to become a 5 aside team (& the dog), due in September so thats going to be fun. A 7 year old, 4 year old and a new born, will be breaking the prams back out again over the summer in preparation. Hobby wise, barely golfed since the last update and its not been weather for the garden so been a very long winter. Clocks changed now so more daylight will mean more golf and more gardening hopefully.

No major holidays booked again, a wee trip in May be about us for the year. Due to the expanding squad in the Burnett household we are adding a clockroom toilet instead. 

SEASON 43:

Got ahead of ourselves in the league so bottled the cups and then ended up bottling the league - probably harsh to put it like with the way OPT flew to the title. Squad is a bit deeper now but likely still 1 or 2 shy to get to the title but we are still high up in the top-11 and top-17 rankings.

Still not much changes in home life, same job and same hobbies that work around looking after the 2 boys. Youngest is a menace, eldest is past the menace stage but quickly reaching the back chatting stages. On the hobby front Ive got a golf handicap again for the first time in years but getting absolutely cheated by the new handicap system that is cherry picking my best scores from 5 years ago to give me a fraction of the handicap I should have these days. In the garden I entered the local city show this year and won a few prizes, majority mainly due to being the only entrant although I did beat others in a couple of them. Had a bumper crop of pumpkins this year so will be busy come carving time.

Booked and went away to Tenerife for a week (just home). Shouldnt moan but what a heat - didnt expect it to be soo hot in October but lesson learned. Was a cracking time anyway, youngests first trip abroad and was nice going away the 4 of us. 

SEASON 42:

Back down to earth with a bump last season, although more due to rub of the olmec heads opposed to my historic incompetence. Missed 3 in 3 trophies by a long way but with the squad theres a chance of 3 in 4. League likely beyond us due to the lack of depth but if we concentrated on a cup could hopefully do some damage.

Still not much change, heading into what we class as a summer in Aberdeen, cant imagine it compares favourably to what others will enjoy but its what we get. Gardening and golf the name of the day, potter about in the garden most days trying not to kill the plants, we are fortunate to have a decent size garden out back but it means a lot of cutting the grass. Lost over a stone in weight since Christmas, was on track to lose a lot more but as with everything it was a struggle to stick with it so not kept losing after the initial big spike. Need to get back on it but lack of motivation is killing it.

Nothing planned as yet holiday wise but the youngest has a passport now so no excuses left, will likely do something in October but will take my orders from the boss and action accordingly.
 

SEASON 41:

Potentially getting ahead of myself but 2 seasons in a row I am turning an averageness corner and starting to be a proper trophy hunter, 2 in 2 which is bound to not turn into 3 in 3. DUB are now only missing the Division 1 title which is going to be a tough nut to crack.

Not much change from the last update, just got through the Christmas break and heading back to work again after about 2 weeks off. Always a chore going back to work after some holidays, even worse after 2 weeks of eating my weight in crisps and snacks. A sucker for a New Years resolution / January health kick so im looking to lose a stone or 3 in weight, thats going to be the main aim in my life this year. Knee is still out of the game so no chance of any running or football to help lose the lbs, will all be about reducing the food intake and walking / cycling.

Still not been camping again but last few months really havent been the weather for it in NE Scotland, wet windy and especially cold for us. Looking into a family trip abroad this year hopefully but will see how things go.

SEASON 40:

Broke the curse of averageness for one season to take the Division 2 title, its highlighted a different colour that the other achievements so assuming DUB are now the team with the most Div 2 wins in the whole of the game.

Not much has changed. Eldest is away to start primary and the youngest is away to start speaking, so soon I will have 2 kids talking back to me. Escaping the mad house by walking the dog, doing the gardening and just started playing golf again semi-regularly. Knees are shot so not actually played football in a while but maybe one day again.

Not been camping again yet but just back from a weekend at the Crieff Hydro, cracking wee place. No abroad trips planned but likely sneak away another weekend later in the summer holidays. Likely be a wee trip to a static caravan, something different for the kids and plenty of activities for them in a caravan park.

SEASON 39:

Continued my tradition of being absolutely bang average at olmec games by winning the division 2 cup that doesnt seem to come with any sort of recognition or prize. Why change the habit of a lifetime.

1 year older and now a married man. Still running about Scotland with the 2 bairns and our cocker spaniel dog. Went to skye this year and took a trip over to Raasay, seen a story on Landward one time about a man who built his own road at the top of the island as the council wouldnt do it for him and didnt want his family to get cut off. Always wanted to go see the road so finally went over last year. Just the destroyed wheelbarrow he used and now the council have sorted the road for them anway but it was still good.

Hopefully less COVID crap this year to get out and about more, fancy taking the family camping this year as its not something ive done for a long time and should be something the kids enjoy. Nice way to see some more of Scotland as well.

Richard
 

SEASON 38:

Now reached what is likely middle age for a Scotsman that eats too many pies, pastries and other such goodies. Started in OLMEC many moons ago in SESL when it was email based, circa 2001-2002 ish maybe. Had little to no success in SESL, dabbled in a few other leagues including SFLSL around its inception. The Manager then became the main league slightly more success but still nothing exciting, I've a habit of building absolutely average teams that never win anything and get stuck in the top division.

I've two young boys now, the eldest showing absolutely no interest in football as yet but can sing along to Ossies Dream - the brain washing has begun - the youngest just about starting walking. When I'm not running about after them I'm either walking the dog (Luka - I love Luka Modric) or in the greenhouse / veg plot.

All The Best,

Richard